Staff 
Due to the early derby match-ups in the Turkish Women’s League, the remaining part of the first half of the year seems a little too expected and promises less surprises as well as less spectacular play for the audience. The quality of the league remains below a certain level while the top three teams mostly seem to easily sweep games. Though the late start of the league forced the top teams to make adjustments at the beginning, loss of a point or two here and there is no issue of an excuse in the Turkish League as the difference is gigantic among the teams. However, the start of the Champions League rings bells for teams as all lack team play.
Eczac?ba?? VitrA started off with the Super Cup but was never able to follow the same game pattern later on. After the straight sets defeat to Fenerbahçe Universal in the league, they were able to turn the tides around with a perfect win over Vak?fbank with a so-so play – at least on paper. Yet, their game looked in shambles against Schweriner in the first leg of the Champions League. It looks like Schweriner will play the role of Volero Zurich in this edition of Champions League. They display great team work with players who have less technical agility on a personal level compared to many players in the Champions League. For instance, Mira Topic was a player of Eczac?ba?? in 2005 but never starred like she did in that game. She still is not a star player but she is part of a team work that raises the Schweriner’s game. Eczac?ba??, on the other hand, won the game in four sets with their star players; namely, Darnel and Poljak. The lack of harmony within the team firstly reflects itself in the infertile attack combinations. The block-defense organization is almost absent while middle attacks represent a forgotten and ignored treasure. These were the basic reasons Eczac?ba?? lost to RC Cannes in the 2nd leg of the Champions League. Up until Gülden Kayalar got injured last season at the end of the return game of the 2nd leg of Playoffs 12 against Cannes, Eczac?ba?? was famous for its almost stainless back-line defense, the in-rhythm block-defense system and their services. This year they have all the players they need for great success but can’t put in the necessary team work. For the moment, they will have a lot of problems with any team that makes just a bit more than average over-the-net defense and digging. That’s what Cannes did and was able to dispatch Ezac?ba??. Next week, they will try their chances against Villa Cortese, which will be no easy job as both sides will be desperate for a three-point win.
On paper, Fenerbahçe Universal seems to have corrected all the holes in their game system following their defeat against Eczac?ba?? in Super Cup as they won all of their next games in the league, including Vak?fbank and Eczac?ba??. Their Champions League campaign so far was also effortless with easy wins against easy teams. Yet, all the sets they have so far dropped are against teams that succeed in dismantling their infamous vulnerable reception system. Nihan Yeldan is still the weakest link in the Fenerbahçe roster. These days, the two-libero system obviously must be a relief for Ze Roberto as Merve Dalbeler performs much better than the veteran libero. On the other hand, we still see the complaining gazes of Sokolova and Kim towards their junior setter Naz Aydemir when she can’t make an accurate set to her star attackers. The tradition that started with Ekaterina Gamova’s gestures to Aydemir to lift the ball higher and continued with Sokolova last year is still an ongoing issue. This will apparently be a far more complicated issue when Aydemir will make mistakes in a match that has far lot more at stake. While the issues of the team in yellow-blue jerseys stand, the 2+1 rule currently punishes one of the best middle blockers in the world Claudino Fabiana to watch her team play in the stands and Logan Tom to go rotten at the bench. It is pretty surprising how Ze Roberto is comfortable with Fabiana, a player he will fight with for the Olympic gold in summer, playing only for a maximum of 12 matches during the whole season.
The fate of the Turkish women’s teams in the Champions League remains to be witnessed as Galatasaray of Calderon and Lo Bianco is still a mystery to challenge the kingdom of Eczac?ba??, Vak?fbank and Fenerbahçe in Turkey.
See you next week!
Murat N. Çolako?lu
